Larry Little, Columnist Published 4:57 p.m. PT Nov. 20, 2020

As a teenager and young adult, I watched with dismay as rockets exploded one after another on the launch pads of Cape Canaveral, and then rejoiced with the successful launches of the Mercury through Apollo programs. Later, my wife and I cheered the first moon landing in July of 1969, watching on our black and white television, and after subsequent missions, the last moon landing, Apollo 17, in December of 1972.

However, my cheers were muted throughout the Space Shuttle years. I viewed the shuttle as a regressive choice, lacking a truly challenging objective to inspire the country with the notable, albeit limited, exception of the un-manned Mars probes.

Now I am cheering once again. Space Xs success with their Falcon 9 rocket launching four astronauts to the space station last Sunday was a triumph of private initiative and a private-public partnership. Congratulations Elon Musk for your success, and especially for your tenacity pushing through your own set of failures to todays potentially defining moment for the future exploration and colonization of space.

I have another early memory. After the national agony of seeing the Soviets place Yuri Gagarin in orbit in April of 1961 and the creation of the Berlin Wall beginning in August of 1961, a speech given by President Kennedy on September 12, 1962 began to change what was then our nations somber, and to some degree depressing cold-war tone a tone only slightly elevated by the three-orbit flight of John Glenn about seven month before that speech.

In that speech Kennedy spoke honestly. We have had our failures.To be sure, we are behind, and will be behind for some time. While his spoken words qualified his statement to only be referring to our being behind in manned flight, it is my memory that we got the broader message that the Soviets were then seemingly eating our lunch, and not just in space.

To a large degree today we are once again playing catch up to a rapidly emerging and hostile power. China, having likely given us the virus, is now on a path to proverbially eat our lunch economically and perhaps militarily. Luckily we are waking up to the threat, whether it be the significant strategic partnerships I saw nearly twenty years ago in West Africa, or those today a lot closer to home Latin America and the Caribbean most especially in Venezuela.

Nothing indirectly signals our upcoming threat more clearly than the comments of the head of a third countrys space organization especially if it is Russia. As reported in an article in CNBC on July 15, 2020, the head of the Russian space organization, Dmitry Rogozin, said in rejecting working with the United States on NASAs Artemis moon program that Russia and China intend to lead the development of a lunar scientific base. The article noted that Rogozin said that China is a deserving partner for his country. While there is likely much posturing involved, the essence is a signal of a broad shift in power towards China--not just in space. That should be of concern to all Americans.

Kennedys September 1962 speech gives us a pathway out of what could be our long-term demise.

Again, he is honest. We chose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.

That sounds like the drive of Elon Musk in partnership with NASA; and another recent success, the Operation Warp Speed group of pharmaceutical companies in partnership with the federal government, under the leadership of Vice President Pence. The announcement of an above 90% Covid-19 success rate by two companies vaccine trials is obviously extremely welcomed.

Both partnerships have been successful so far, and are great models.

While I have multiple fingers crossed while I write this--perhaps such partnerships can be a model for unity in addressing future national and even international aspirationsin space and elsewhere.

Like Kennedy said long ago, it will not be easy. He noted that, William Bradford, speaking in 1630 of the founding of the Plymouth Bay Colony, said that all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.

While we have much that divides us, the best of our energies and skills, can unite us and meet the challenges.

Mars beckons!

Speaking of uniting us in a divided world, I want to thank all those who have expressed an interest in reestablishing the Independent Thinkers discussion group. Because of some particularly challenging personal issues at the moment, I will be in contact concerning that matter after the first of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving via Zoom!

Contact Larry Little at larrylittle46@gmail.com.

Larry Little(Photo: Kitsap Sun)

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Partnership beyond the horizon - Kitsap Sun